King Asshole

“Out of all of that, you’re going to zero in on the stripper thing?”

“What? We’re not BFFs for nothing.”

“What would Lily think with you talking that way?”

“Now you’re worried about my girl? Seriously, Jax, what is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me.”

“Nothing is wrong with you. Not even close. You just need to figure out what you want to do and how far you’re willing to go with this.”

“Okay, I can do this. Ask me a few questions.”

“They’re not supposed to be trivial.”

“I don’t care. Just ask me these things and we can figure this out.”

“Fine. You really like this girl?”

He paused, but he already knew the answer. “Yes. I do.” He really did like Dani. He didn’t need a couple of months to figure that out. He already knew it. It’s one of the reasons why he’d not been with a woman in a few months. Every time he thought about it, he actually felt fucking guilty.

A woman had him by the balls, and she didn’t even know it.

“Is it just for a fuck thing?”

“No, not even close.”

“Okay, so if it’s not for a fuck, what could it be for?”

“I like her, Ryan. Like really, really like her. I wouldn’t want her to leave after I fucked her. I don’t know if I’m capable of being more though. I’ve never had a girlfriend. You know that.”

“I know. You’ve always been the love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy.”

“A complete and total asshole.” He rubbed at his temples. “I mean, what am I supposed to do? She sees women leaving my room all the time.”

“Maybe take it slow. First, you could ask her out on a date. A real date.”

“I don’t date. What do people do on dates?”

Ryan sighed. “It’s like I’m having practice to talk to my future son. Okay, here we go. Dates are supposed to be fun. They can be a walk in the park, the movies, something fun. I even took Lily for a trip to the zoo.”

“You did that in seventh grade and screamed like a girl in the reptile center because you thought one of their spiders had escaped and was crawling all over you.”

“Hey, it totally could have happened.”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on, this is not supposed to be about you but about me, remember? Come on, man. I need pointers.”

“Take her out. Go dancing. I don’t know, take her to a strip club or something. Just think of something fun and then maybe broach the subject that you’d like to try and be something more. My big bit of advice though … don’t sleep with any more strangers. Just ignore them and concentrate on the girl that you’ve got a hard-on for. You think you can do that?”

“I think I can try.”

“I got to be heading back.”

“Ryan,” Jax asked. “That thing about your future son? Is Lily knocked up?”

“Maybe.”

“Whoop-whoop, you horndog you.”

“Keep it down. She doesn’t want anyone to know. The first trimester is the hardest part and there’s a risk she may lose it, so we’re keeping it to ourselves and you’re my best friend so now you know.”

“I won’t tell a soul. I swear.” He had more important things to think about right now, like how he was going to finally get Dani to at least talk to him. He didn’t know her schedule, but he was going to have to totally wing it.

****

Dani was so tired, and she still needed to eat something. She knew after a few hours’ sleep she’d be more than ready to get started again. She’d been taking so many hours in the past couple of days, mainly because she didn’t want to come home.

She didn’t want to confront Jax over what happened. There hadn’t even been any real build-up between them. Not really. Sure, there were a few times they’d been close and their gazes had collided and she’d wondered what it would be like for him to kiss her. Then she had pushed that to the back of her mind.

Who wouldn’t think of kissing their heavily inked, asshole neighbor? She certainly didn’t have a problem with it. Far from it. His kiss had made her so wet, and he’d even gotten her naked from the waist up.

She’d have gladly fucked him on that sofa as well. She was screwed.

There was only so much she could take, and Jax was a walking, talking, breathing asshole that made her ache.

Biting her lip, she tucked some hair behind her ear as she put her key in the lock. His asshole tendencies aside and his ability to butt into everything, she actually really liked him. She shouldn’t be liking a roommate that overstepped his welcome, and yet she did.

See, she was crazy.

So crazy.

Opening the door, she paused as the scents that met her were amazing.